Handle and switch for electric heating elements



July 28, 12925 c.. H, RO'EHM ANDLE AND SWITCH EUR ELECTRC- HEATING ELEMENTS Fllled May, 22. 1924 NVNTOR C/yo'r/es H. Po'ebm.

GWM\% Patented July 28, 1925.`

UNITI-:DA STATES CHARLES H. EOEHM, QEWEST NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY.

Application led May 22, 1924. Serial N'o. 715,217.

To @ZZ whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, CHARLES H, ROEHM, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of West New York, county of Hudson, State of New Jersey, have invented an Improvement in Handles and Switches for Electric Heating Elements, of which the following is a specification.

v This invention relates to electric ,sad irons and particularly to a switch for closing the circuit through the resistance units. VIt is in the nature of an improvement of the construction shown in my copending applica# tion Ser. No. 656,750 filed August 10, 1923.

The present invention has for its principal object the provision of a switch which may be assembled as a unit for incorporation in the handle ofthe iron and which-is so constructed that upon the grasping of the handle by the operator the switch will be closed and upon the release of the handle it will automatically be opened. Furthermore, provision is made so that the switch may be closed and held in such positionvwithout the necessity of the operators'continuously holding the handle.

In the drawing I-have shown one embodiment of the invention wherein:

Figure 1 is a sectional view of the switch showing it open in full lines and closed 1n dotted lines,

Figure 2 is a sectional view showing the switch assembled in the handle of the sad iron.

The embodiment of the inventionshown in the drawing includes a base member of electrical conductive material such as metal sufficiently rigid to form a carrier for theremaining parts of the switch. At one of its ends this base member is provided with means for attachment to one of the lead-in wires and at the other end with means for pivotally supporting the switch controlling element. The first of these means, that is the means for attachment of the lead-in wire, includes a projection 11 which extends preferably upwardly from the base and is provided with a threaded aperture for the receptionof a screw 12 for the attachment of the end of the lead-in wire 13. At the opposite end of the base'the means for the support of the switch controlling element includes upwardly extend-y ing ears 14:. It is to be noted that the construction and arrangement of the elements of the base 10 are such that the base may be formed of a single piece of sheet metal, if

desired, and the projection 11 and ears 14 formed-by a single stamping operation.

A block 15 of insulating material is carried by the base 10 adjacent one of its ends and is attached thereto by suitable means such as screws 16. A resilient switch blade 17 having a contact element 18 on one of its ends, is attached to the insulator 15 and is provided with a screw threaded aperture in its other end for the reception of a screw 19 by means of which the second of the leadin wires may be attached.

A current controlling member 20 is pvoted at 21 between the ears '14: and is provided with an enlarged head 21 which continu ously contacts with the base 10 and is adapted to contact with the switch` blade 17, thus forming the second switch element. This head 21 is provided with a recess 22 which results in contact faces 28 and 24: with which the contact point 18 of the switch blade 17 is adapted to engage.

Furthermore, the head 21 is provided with two cam faces 25 and 26, the lformer of which is adapted to engagea leaf spring 27 carried by the base 10 to maintain the head in a neutral position, that is to say,so that the contact point 18 of the blade 17 is spaced from and is in engagement with neither of the faces 23 or'21i, and the latter` of which 26 is, when the head is swung pivotally, adapted to engage the spring 27 to maintain the face 24 in engagement with the contact 18 to permit the current to continuously iow through the heating elements without necessitating the operators holding the handle of 'the iron,

The current controlling member 2O is pro vided with insulation 28 which, when the switch is Vassembled'in the handle of the sad iron, completes the handle and closes the chamberin which the switch is housed.

The construction Vof the component parts of the switch are such that, preferably, they do not exceed the base 10 in width with the result that the switch may be housed within the handle of the iron in a very simple manner. 1

The handle of the iron is provided with a chamber29 for the reception of the switch which chamber is, as aforesaid, closed by the insulation 28. It will be noted that the current controlling member 2O is provided, at its end remote from its pivot, with a shoulder 30 which is adapted to engage a corresponding stationary shoulder 31 to limit the movement of the member when the circuit is completed through the blade 17.

lt will be seen that the switch may be assembled asa unit and inserted in the chamber of the handle where itv may be secured by a single attachment such as a screw 32. The assembly may then be coinpleted by the attachment of the lead in wires by means of the screws 19, and 19.

It is distinctly advantageous to assemble the switch completely before installation in the handle in that it permits of the adjustment of the parts before insertion in the relative restricted coniines of the receiving chamber. Furthermore, it permits the ready removal and replacement for clean ing andrepair.

lWhile have illustrated a particular embodiment of my invention it is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited to the details thereof as many changes may be made within the scope of the claims.

What l claim is:

. 1. A handle for an electrically heated sad iron or the like comprising a body portion having a recess therein, a switch unit removably mounted in said recess and including normally separated contacts, one of said contacts having` cam faces, and means co* operating with said caml faces to automatically return the last mentionedl contact to its normal position with the contacts out of engagement, or tomaintain the same in such position that the contacts are fiXedly held in engagement.

2. A handle for an electrically heated sad iron or the like comprising a recessed bodlyT portion, a switch unit removably 'mounted in said recess and having a spring contact and a pivoted Contact, said pivoted contact having cam faces, and means cooperating with said cam faces to maintain the contacts in engagement with each other or to automatically return the pivoted contact to its normal position out of engagement with the spring contact. l

3. A switch unit for an electrically heated sad iron including la 'base having means for engaging an electrical conductor and upstanding ears, an insulation block carried by the base, a spring'contact on said block, a contact pivoted between the ears of the base and having two cam faces and a spring carried by the base and engageable with one of the cam faces to maintain the contacts in engagement and with the other of said cam faces to automatically disengage the contacts. f

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to .this specification this 17th day of May, 1924.

CHARLES H. ROEHM. 

